Pretend Holiness

I am not much for religion when it is merely outside show.  For instance, if someone wears a veil in church to show their “respect” for God, but then grumble to themselves about how unholy others are, then this is what I would call pretend holiness.  You pretend that you are something that you are not.  Outside stuff does not change the insides.  So I am unimpressed with public piety.  It does not tell me much about how someone is doing with the interior struggle of character defects.  Wearing of religious garb is fine, but it does not substitute for the hard work of interior change.  One does not become a kinder, less judgmental, less control focused because they wear something around their neck or on their head.  Wearing my priestly clerical clothes says little about how my inner life is going.